New Elements of Harmony
by Supa Supa Bad Truly Mad Moves
Summary: Princess Twilight and her friends have mysteriously vanished, putting into place an emergency protocol bringing together six individuals from all corners of Equestria who have been touched by the Elements of Harmony. This unlikely team must band together to locate the rulers of the Friendship Rainbow Kingdom... or replace them.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** _My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic_ is the property of Hasbro.

**NEW ELEMENTS OF HARMONY**

by Supa Supa Bad Truly Mad Moves

Chapter One

Somewhere in the vast and magical world, six powerful lights flickered and vanished without a trace.

Shortly thereafter, in six different points all over Equestria, another six pinpoints of light came into being. One by one, these lights made their way to a single location: the castle of the Friendship Rainbow Kingdom.

In flashes of multicolored light, they appeared at the castle doors. The first to appear was the yellow-coated pegasus with a flame-orange mane, wearing sunglasses and a captain's uniform. To her left, a tiny blue breezie in a black jacket appeared, and to her right, a jittery and nervous-looking square-jawed stallion.

To the breezie's left, a cream-colored mare in a collar and tie meekly raised her head and looked around. Opposite her, there appeared an orange stallion with a wildly curly brown mane and a yellow shirt.

Coco Pommel and Cheese Sandwich made eye contact from across the semi-circle. Instantly, both of their eyes shimmered with a rainbow of pale colors. A second later, the magical glow was gone, and the five of them looked around at each other nervously.

After a long silence, Spitfire was the first to speak. "So… I assume you all received the same message I did?" she said curtly. "Does anypony know what this is about?"

She looked down at the Wonderbolts pin she'd been holding on the top of her hoof. The others looked at their own items: Silver Shill with his single bit, Coco with her spool of thread. Cheese had a rubber chicken wrapped around his neck, and Seabreeze was carrying a flower almost as large as himself.

"That's a shame," said Spitfire, in response to the silence. "Guess there's only one way to find out." She flew up the palace's golden steps and slowly pulled the huge double-doors open. She hovered in place for a moment, before turning to glare at the others, who hastily joined her in entering the castle's grand halls.

Seabreeze drifted in ahead of Coco, barely making it inside before the giant doors shut. "Oh!" Coco exclaimed in surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

He sat on her nose, cradling the flower as he did so. "Do you mind?" he asked.

She beamed. "Not at all." She caught up to the group, he hitching a ride on her face.

"I have to admit this worries me," Coco muttered to Spitfire as she walked alongside the pegasus. "What could have happened to the princess so soon after her kingdom was born? And what are _we_ meant to do? I don't feel I'm qualified."

"You meet the same qualifications as I do," Spitfire said briskly, looking straight ahead. "We each learned something from one of the princess's friends. We are the ones who gave them the gifts that allowed them to create this kingdom. They obviously believe there's something special about us, and not without reason, I would say. But we don't know yet what we're here for. If you think it's something you're unqualified for, well, I'll personally ensure that you acquire the skills you need. Unless you'd rather not shoulder this burden you've been given, and would like to back out." She turned to look at Coco for the first time, raising an expectant eyebrow.

"No," Coco said staunchly. "Not ever."

Spitfire gave her a smile at that.

Cheese eyed Silver Shill. "You gave her a bit?" he said in amusement. "What'd you do, realize you needed a gift at the last minute? Didn't know what she liked, so just went with cash? What are you, the distant uncle or something?"

Silver Shill slouched defensively. "I always wanted to be a salespony, and this was the first bit I ever made in that line of work, so it was pretty valuable to me. I hoped it would mean enough to Applejack that she wouldn't get it mixed up with her all her other bits—and I guess it did, she didn't lose it or spend it or anything."

"Well, my mistake," Cheese said graciously. "That's quite the story."

"Yeah," Silver Shill agreed, flattered. "And what's the story behind that chicken? There's gotta be something."

Cheese glanced over his shoulder disdainfully. "Oh, this chicken represented all of the bitter memories and broken dreams of my squandered childhood."

"Really?"

"Nah, it's just a rubber chicken," Cheese said cheerfully. "Found it at a Pinkie Pie party when I was a colt and carried it around with me until I met up with her again. Always hoped I'd give it back to her someday. Though if I'd known it was a key to a secret box that contained a Friendship Rainbow Castle, I might have asked her for more money."

Silver Shill stared. In response, Cheese laughed and extended his hoof. "Hi, name's Cheese Sandwich, I'm usually funnier."

"Silver Shill," he replied, shaking hooves with him. "I know what you mean: I bet you're nervous about this whole thing. I am too."

They continued walking, the hallway's pattern of marble columns and high windows seeming to repeat endlessly.

"This castle seems empty," Seabreeze said in suspicion, scanning the halls from his vantage point on Coco's nose. "Shouldn't there be guards or something?"

"This place is still pretty new," Spitfire said grimly. "I don't think they ever got around to hiring guards… this entire thing is just far too sudden for my tastes. Tirek was only _just_ brought down. What new disaster could have sprung up so abruptly?" She sighed. "I don't like having so many questions. There had better be answers behind this door."

Spitfire once again took it upon herself to open a pair of huge doors, this time the large tinted-green glass doors that led to the throne room. Together, the five of them tentatively entered the spacious and welcoming purple throne room, its seven crystalline thrones arranged in a circle, six of them decorated with the cutie marks of the Elements of Harmony.

In Twilight Sparkle's throne, a multicolored and serpentine form sat, slouching with an expression of gloom, eyes closed and with a golden medallion around his neck.

Discord's eyes opened at the sound of their entry, and his expression brightened. "It's you! You're here, all of you! Oh, what a relief!" He scrambled to his feet and stepped toward them, arms spread in welcome. "Gift-givers, key-bearers, true friends, it's such an honor to be among you. I only wish it was a happier time."

Spitfire's tail flicked with agitation as she lowered her head menacingly. "Discord," she hissed. "So you were behind this. Your buddy Tirek didn't get what we was after, so you swooped in and took it for yourself."

Discord looked offended and taken aback. "You, madam, are profoundly ignorant," he said darkly.

"The princess called us here to get rid of you!" Spitfire declared.

"If that were true, that would just be a tragedy," Discord said snidely. "There's not much that the five of _you_ could do to me."

"Where are Princess Twilight and the others?" Spitfire snarled.

Discord's lip trembled, and he burst into tears. "If I knew that," he choked out, "I would _be_ there so I could save them! I don't appreciate your accusations, Captain Spitfire." He staggered back to the throne, slumping in the seat as he sobbed and heaved.

Spitfire stepped backward in surprise, her expression softening only slightly. "Well… what's that trinket you're wearing, and why are you in Princess Twilight's throne?"

Discord held up the medallion and displayed it to them. "This is the token I gave Twilight to thank her for all she had taught me. It came back to me when her emergency protocol was put into place. It came to me so it could bring me here, just like the tokens all of _you_ are carrying."

Spitfire glanced at her pin, then back up at Discord in shock. "You're the one who gave Princess Twilight her key?"

"Yes."

"She sent you the message she sent all of us?"

"Yes. Apparently, I just got here faster than the rest of you."

"And… why are you in her throne?" Coco asked cautiously.

"I'm depressed and I like thrones," Discord said dully, burying his face in his mismatched hands.

Seabreeze flitted across the room and into Fluttershy's throne, cradling his flower in his arms. "So," he said tersely. "What's this big emergency that sent out the message? I don't understand that."

"Yeah, we really don't have anything to go on there," Silver Shill agreed. "I was minding my own business, seemed like everything was ordinary, and all of a sudden…"

-0-0-0-0-0-

Only a few short minutes before, Coco had been at her sewing machine in her Manehattan loft, putting the finishing touches on a new costume. With no warning, an enormous holographic head appeared a few feet in front of her; the head of Princess Twilight Sparkle, crown and all, a new crown modeled after her lost Element of Harmony tiara.

"Greetings, dear, dear friend," the giant head said solemnly. "My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. The day I was given a kingdom of my very own, I set up an enchantment in case of emergency. If you're watching this, it means something has happened to me and my friends. Probably something not so nice. I'm calling on you, a wonderful friend who helped give birth to my kingdom, for help. I'm returning your gift to you. Take it, and if you so choose, it will take you to my castle."

Twilight took a calming breath, and when she proceeded, she had managed a small smile. "Be strong. Everything will be just fine if you remember the lessons my friends and I taught to you. Equestria is counting on you. Good luck."

The head closed its eyes and disappeared in a flash of light. The rainbow-colored spool of thread popped out of the light and landed on Coco's worktable. She stared at it apprehensively, then looked out the window.

"Your wish is my command, Princess," she whispered. Her eyes shut to block the flow of tears, she placed a hoof on the thread, and it glowed white.

Far away, at the Wonderbolts Academy, the gold winged pin slid across Spitfire's desk, stopping just before it landed in her lap. She lowered her sunglasses and turned to one of the officers in the room with her. "Am I the only one who saw that?"

He shook his head.

"So you understand, then, why you'll have to excuse me," Spitfire said firmly, getting to her hooves. "I know I have a lot of responsibilities here at the Academy… but it looks like an even higher duty calls." She slammed her hoof down on the pin, and stared determinedly into the void of blue light it produced.

On a dusty road somewhere in eastern Equestria, a rubber chicken landed in the dirt at Cheese Sandwich's hooves. The stallion lowered his wide-brimmed hat and adjusted his poncho. "Let's do this thing," he growled dramatically.

He paused, then turned to address the rubber chicken sitting on his back. "Sorry, Boneless Two, I think where I'm going they'll want the _real_ me." In a single gesture, he swept off his hat, poncho, and Boneless Two, and gathered them all up in a knapsack, which he somehow stuffed into a tiny shirt pocket with an equally effortless gesture.

"Hit it, Boneless One," he said cheerfully, slinging the other chicken across his shoulders. It glowed pink.

In the Breezie Grotto, the blue flower appeared, much larger than Seabreeze remembered it, and slowly drifted down into his arms. He cried out in alarm, before realizing it wasn't taking him anywhere; he would be allowed to make that choice.

He set the flower down on the mossy floor of his home and turned to his wife. "Should I?" he said anxiously.

She tilted her head, his uncertainty causing her confusion.

"I can't," he said desperately. "I can't risk being trapped out there again, not able to come back to you. It almost happened once, and it almost killed me. I couldn't take that risk a second time."

He glanced at their child, asleep in a cradle.

"And yet…" he muttered. "What if they really need me out there? They must have chosen _me_ for a reason…"

His wife picked the flower up off the ground and offered it to him. His eyes misted up, shimmering in a rainbow of color, and he ran his hoof through her wild purple mane. "I love you," he whispered. "As soon as I find a way to come back, I will. I promise."

He took the flower and it started glowing yellow. His wife gave him a little kiss just before he vanished.

At Rainbow Falls, a single bit landed on the table of Silver Shill's display of wigs and disguises. It landed heavily, not bouncing or rolling at all. His customers, a pair of young colts, stared at him in surprise.

"Sorry, fellas, store's closed," he said determinedly. "Something's come up."

He shut the till and put up a "closed" sign. The colts backed away respectfully.

"I'm comin' for ya, Applejack," Silver Shill whispered. He picked up the bit and concentrated on it; it glowed orange and he vanished.

Elsewhere, Tirek's medallion appeared at Discord's feet. He shed a single tear.

"It's too soon," he whispered. "It's much too soon."

He picked it up and slung it around his neck, causing it to glow lavender, but he didn't disappear, didn't teleport to any new location, for he was already directly in front of Twilight's throne in the Friendship Rainbow Castle. All he had to do was sit down.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"So what happened?" Seabreeze demanded. "'Something not so nice', that could mean anything. Are they missing? Kidnapped? Dead? Does anybreezie know _anything_ about this?"

"And why would she call _us_?" Cheese added. "Why would she return these tokens to us? Are we supposed to go on some kind of rescue mission armed with these cheap knick-knacks?"

"I don't know!" Discord exploded. "All right? I don't know what happened! It's not my fault I'm clueless." He coiled up angrily in the seat like a snake, hiding his face.

"It sounds like you're trying to tell _yourself_ that," Coco said gently. "I'm sure you're right. I'm sure it's not your fault at all."

He peered at her from behind the coils of his own body. "Thanks, Coco," he said in a muffled voice.

The door to the throne room opened once again, and Spike stepped through, followed closely by a pony whose face and body were entirely concealed by a heavy gray cloak. This pony lingered by the door as Spike stepped into the circle of thrones.

"Spike!" Discord cried, rushing over to him. "Thank goodness. Do you have any idea of what's happened to the girls?"

Spike hesitated. Clearly, it was a loaded question. "I… have a _pretty_ good idea, yeah. It's a long story, and I still haven't pieced the entire thing together, in my head, so… you might all want to sit down. This could take a while."

Cheese nudged Coco. "Who's the pony in the hood?" he muttered confidentially.

"I have no idea," she replied, shifting uneasily.

Their hooves touched accidentally as she shuffled. They turned to each other in surprise, and once again their eyes shimmered like a rainbow. Even as the light faded, they continued staring at each other, holding eye contact for far too long for it to be comfortable. Hastily, they rushed to the thrones, Rarity's and Pinkie's, which happened to be adjacent to each other. They continued shooting each other brief glances.

"So," said Spike, climbing into his own throne at Discord's side, "have you all introduced yourselves?"

"Kid, I don't really thing this is the time—" Spitfire said tersely.

"It's not really the time to be telling a story, either," Spike snapped, raising a finger declaratively. "But the six of you need to be in the know about what's really happening here, and that'll start by getting to know each other."

He pulled a lever on the side of his tiny throne, and it rose up on a scissor-lift, making him tower over the rest of the group.

"So, tell everypony who you are, and what your gift means to you," said Spike. He eyed Silver Shill, sitting in the throne directly to Discord's left.

"Uh, my name's Silver Shill," he said, his eyes darting around nervously. "I used to help the Flim-Flam brothers with their con jobs, until Applejack helped me remember the value of honesty." He gently caressed the edges of his coin.

"I-I'm Coco Pommel," Coco stammered. "I met Rarity in Manehattan. She changed my life, I… I hope if we work together we can bring her back." She sniffled, suppressing tears. "And may I say it's an honor to be here helping?"

"That's great, Coco," said Discord. "Now go and get us some coffee."

She stared at him in alarm.

"He's kidding, Coco," Spike said hastily. "Go on." He nodded to Cheese.

"Ah, I'm Cheese Sandwich," he said proudly. "Yes, _that_ Cheese Sandwich. You probably always secretly wondered where I came from, well, when I was a colt, I saw this amazing party that taught me how to smile. And it was Pinkie Pie who threw it, made me who I am. We met up again a couple months ago, and she started seeing me as a rival. I just couldn't believe it. Biggest thrill of my life. Especially since… it ended on a high note." He grinned fondly at the original Boneless.

All eyes turned to Seabreeze, his tiny body barely visible on the huge throne. "I'm Seabreeze," he said, clipped and toneless. "Fluttershy helped get me home to my family, and I think she'd want me to get _back_ to them as quickly as possible."

"All right, all right," Spike said soothingly. "Calm down… next up?"

"Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts," she said formally. "I've had a number of run-ins with Rainbow Dash since she showed up on the scene, oh, what was it, like a year and a half ago? Little after the Nightmare Moon thing happened? Anyway, she's taught me a thing or two about my own game. I relish the idea of helping _her_ out for a change."

Spike beamed at her, then addressed the group. "I'm Spike, I've been Princess Twilight's loyal personal assistant for most of my life. It's my job to get the six of you working as a team."

"And I'm Discord."

There was a long silence.

"Should I say more?" Discord said in surprise. "I thought that statement spoke for itself. Fine: Princess Twilight and the others mean the world to me, and if anything gets in the way of my rescuing them or avenging them or whatever it is I have to do, I'm going to…" He sighed, clamped his eyes shut tight, and pounded his fist against the armrest of the throne. "I'm going to _try_ not to take it out on all of you." He slowly opened his eyes and forced a smile. "I'm sure we're all going to become the best of friends."

The cloaked figure shifted nervously.

"All right," Spike said quickly. "Well, I'm sure you all understand what you have in common that made Twilight choose you. You're the ones who gave the gifts. Your lives were changed, and it's because of that that you managed to infuse everyday objects with immense power. When you opened up your hearts to those who represent the Elements of Harmony, you came to represent the same spirits that the six of them do. Twilight hoped that you could use these talents if she ever needed to be found, or rescued, or, heaven forbid, replaced."

"Replaced?" Discord exclaimed.

"Yes," Spike said seriously. "Finding them would be important, of course, but it's more important to make sure somepony is keeping watch over this new kingdom."

"Spike… please…" said Coco, her voice cracking. "What _happened_ to them?"

Spike lowered his throne back down to floor level. "Like I said, it's a long story, so bear with me. Trust me when I say you have time to hear the whole thing, and that you _need_ to hear all of it. Here's what happened…"

-0-0-0-0-0-

**Author's Note**

So, that's the first chapter of _New Elements of Harmony_. It's kind of a gamble, because this is a story I might finish and I might not… I have a lot of other stuff to do. I'm in the midst of a bona fide epic, _Romance and the Fate of Equestria_—please check that out if you ever get the chance, and don't be intimidated by its size, it's really more of a series which I decided to publish all under one title. And I have other things on my plate, including _The Vice Principal in the Moon_, which is what happened last time I decided to do an MLP-related side project, it's basically a deadfic. I'm invested in never letting _Vice Principal_ die, but I might not be able to reach the same level of commitment with _New Elements of Harmony_.

I've wanted to do this story ever since it became clear that each member of the Mane Six would be receiving a gift… so, "Rainbow Falls", when the imagery first became recurring, or even "Rarity Takes Manehattan"—even in its first appearance, the rainbow shimmer really stood out. Funny thing: before the whole lineup was revealed, while I was waiting on Applejack's rainbow-eyed episode to happen, maybe even before the breezies, I had it in mind that I wanted Discord to be the sixth member of this group, the one representing Twilight and the Element of Magic. And sure enough, he became the one to give Twilight her key. Flawless victory!

That happens to me a lot—things happen in the show that bear a _huge_ resemblance to things I've written, or was _about_ to write, into my fanfiction. This trend is why I'm very, _very_ apprehensive about Episode 100. See, it's been revealed that Season 5 Episode 9, the 100th episode of FIM, will be a special that focuses on peripheral characters—later, it was revealed that one of these characters was Coco, which gave me the sneaking suspicion that it's an episode that unites the six gift-givers. I wouldn't put it past the FIM writing staff. They obviously have a microchip in my brain. Yes, I know, _everyone_ has their headcanons become obsolete at some point, but with me… way too often and way too specific. Case in point, _Romance and the Fate of Equestria_ featured a pony who's a living shadow with glowing eyes who lives in the Castle of the Two Sisters. This was before the Pony of Shadows was announced.

I'm also going to attempt to make this story child-friendly, something I've never tried with fanfic before. But the operative word here is "attempt"… I won't go out of my way to include sex or violence or anything, but despite my best efforts it _might_ end up being too intense for the little ones…


	2. cancellation

I apologize to those of you who have been waiting. I've had too much on my mind, weighing me down, cluttering up my life. Starting a new story was a bad idea. I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel _New Elements of Harmony_.

However, I've had a lot of ideas for the story, so I'm going to be posting new chapters which briefly summarize what _would_ have happened if I had been able to continue. Maybe someday I can collaborate with someone to actually flesh out those ideas and finish the story. But I can't do it by myself, and not anytime soon either, not with everything else that's going on in my life. So, stay tuned for those.

Once again, I apologize. Thank you for your time.


End file.
